The writer refers to the latest statement by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the launch of the 46th National Youth Day celebration, that youth will be defined as those under the age of 30 under the new National Youth Policy that will be presented to the cabinet today.

The main reason stated by the government was aimed at getting more youths to be involved in youth organisations and economic activities when they leave school, attend institutions of higher education and upon graduation. Besides, the policy was also to ensure that the definition of the Malaysian youth was in accordance with international standards.

In terms of international practice, the rough age that determines the youth is between 15 and 30. Some countries have adopted a more stringent policy by stipulating a younger age group, such as the United Kingdom (between 14 and 25), Australia (between 12 and 24), and Canada (between 16 and 23). Nearest to home is Singapore where the small island has defined the youth as those who are between 15-35.

Redefining the age of Malaysian youth is certainly seen as a strong commitment by the government to empower and maximise the potential of the youth in order to be competent globally in terms of skills, morals, character, as well as leadership.

Nevertheless, the question that should be borne in mind is - are we now on the right track globally in order to materialise the good will of the government?

Stanford University Professor Allan Wood in his writing on Kant’s Groundwork begins with the discussion of Kant’s ‘good will’ theory by quoting the most memorable in all of Kant’s writings - “There is nothing it is possible to think of anywhere in the world, or indeed anything at all outside it, that can be held to be good without limitation, excepting only a good will”.

Kant says that the good will is the only thing that is ‘good without limitation’ (ohne Einschränkung). What he means is that the good will is in itself something entirely good and in no respect bad. He explains this by saying that the good will is the only good thing whose goodness is not diminished by its combination with anything else.

So the emphasis must be on the question of our readiness to exclude all that can limit the government’s good will by amending any other policies or legislation so that it will be regarded as a supporting system to the government’s agendas and aspirations.

According to the Malaysian Youth Index (MYI 2015) published by the Institute For Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES), the overall domain score for the youth who are between 15-30 years old was ‘moderate’. One of the lowest domains scored was economic well-being at 54.26 percent, falling under the category of ‘less satisfied’.

Five indicators of economic well-being

From the big domain of economic well-being, there were five indicators. Firstly was financial security, the circumstances under which a person has financial planning from savings or investments where they do not have to worry about their financial needs. This indicator showed the score of only 39.86 percent which fell under the category ‘strongly not satisfied’.

Other indicators were debt-free - 49.37 percent, financial literacy - 71.79 percent, employability - 60.74 percent, and salary - 39.86 percent. The index clearly reflected the high cost of living that resulted in financial difficulties faced by the Malaysian youth.

If this trend continues, the youth especially young graduates who are between 25-30 years old will certainly focus on their self-survival day and night to ensure that they can solve their bread and butter problem. Hence, from this economic state of well-being, are we still expecting them to join the youth movement actively?

Let’s take an example of a medical school graduate, who, at the age of 26, will have to undergo the rigorous housemanship training period of two years and only by the age of 28 will be able to participate in youth works - it is a sure waste of talent when he only has two years left to give his commitment to the youth organisations and activities.

Besides, referring to the current policy implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports through Registrar of Youth (ROY), the regulations imposed are somewhat inflexible and even more strict than Registrar of Society (ROS), particularly in terms of the basic structure of the organisation that requires youth organisations to have all branches in particular districts and villages- certainly not based on what is deemed suitable for the youth.

Having said so, it is a must for the government to set up a strong supporting system so that the youth will have a space to focus on youth organisations. The government should also implement more flexible regulations for youth organisations so that they can manage them based on current trends with minimal interference or control by the government.

From current observations, the government is highly likely to take a long period of time in order to provide a good supporting system for the youth.

Thus, the writer urges the government to stick to the youth age limit of 40 or redefine it of 35 for the time being instead of it being drastically lowered down to 30 years old. Such gradual implementation is important, otherwise the new youth policy will become irrelevant.

The writer always perceives the effort as a good will to empower and maximise the potential of the youth in order to be competent globally particularly in terms of leadership. Nonetheless, in reality, only 9 percent of Malaysia’s 222 MP falls within the Malaysian definition of youth, which is below 40 years of age consisting of six BN MPs and 16 from the opposition.

How many from the Malaysian youth will make up the parliament if the definition of youth will be lowered to below 30?

One of the supporting systems might be the avenues for the youth to participate politically and socially in order to widen the dimension and experience of the Malaysian youth pertaining to mind sets and thoughts. In other countries, youths tend to be involved in politics in university, but it is not the case in Malaysia. Certain political leaders are not allowed to be invited to public forums or other intellectual discourse in certain universities.

Leadership in the global world had shown that youths at the age of 20 were successfully elected as national Members of the parliament. An outstanding example was Mhairi Black, 20 of the Scottish National Party, who became Britain’s youngest Member of Parliament since the 17th century. She was a fourth year law school student.

In Australia, Wyatt Roy became the youngest person ever to be elected into the Australian House of Representatives at the age of 20 in 2010. These are the indicators set as an international standard that Malaysian government needs to look at.

Our prime minister said the young generation must have the potential to achieve its maximum to ensure that the country maintains its excellence. In order to ensure the youth are empowered, they need to be seen and treated as leaders and that kind of treatment must also be in accordance with international standards in the field of freedom and liberty in particular.

Apart from that, a new culture must be adopted to create an environment that extends inclusiveness to the young instead of exclusiveness among the old.

MUHAMMAD FAISAL ABDUL AZIZ is secretary-general of the Muslim Youth Movement Malaysia (Abim).